BG Reads | News - August 15, 2022
[BG PODCAST]
Today's episode (161) features?Ed Latson, CEO,?Austin Regional Manufacturers Association.
Ed and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the recent of the?CHIPs and Science Act, and the economic implications for Central Texas.
The bipartisan bill includes more than $50 billion in incentives for manufacturers of semiconductors, or chips, to build domestic semiconductor plants.->?EPISODE LINK
Enjoyed this episode? Please like, share, and comment!?Follow?Bingham Group on LinkedIn!
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin Community College board calls $770M bond for November election (Community Impact)
A $770 million bond will be on the ballot in November for the Austin Community College District after the board of trustees called it Aug. 11.
If approved by Central Texas voters, the bond would go toward expanding ACC’s workforce training in high-demand fields, such as health care, advanced manufacturing and information technology across 11 existing campuses and creating two new campuses in southeast and southwest Travis County.
“This is one of the most important actions the ACC board has taken since I joined the board in 2016,” said Nora de Hoyos Comstock, ACC board of trustees vice chair. “We are committed to giving Central Texans the most opportunity to prepare for the future.”
The bond would fulfill a portion of ACC’s most recent?Facilities Master Plan?from 2021. The plan looks at population growth and program capacities to determine where expansion is needed, said Neil Vickers, ACC executive vice chancellor of finance and administration.
For $200 million, ACC would construct an advanced manufacturing and skilled trades center on 124 acres of land in Del Valle, which ACC acquired from its last bond election in 2014, Vickers said. The center would include automotive technology, building construction technology and welding along with classrooms for general education and student services…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
District 9 City Council candidates chat with the ‘Monitor’: Part I (Austin Monitor)
With Council Member Kathie Tovo term-limited and six candidates who have raised more than $25,000 so far, District 9 is thought to be one of the more competitive races this local election season.
One consequence of that competition: It can be difficult for voters to differentiate the candidates, their policies and how they intend to represent the district. On the whole, all six District 9 candidates are progressives campaigning on the issues of affordability, transportation and Land Development Code reform.
With a field so crowded, there are already expectations that District 9 will have no clear winner on election day and is destined for a runoff in December – something the candidates themselves have in mind as they’re campaigning.
The candidates in the race all have deep ties to Austin, ranging from long-serving community activists to entrepreneurs who have built their companies in the capital city…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin Planning Commission OKs new park fees for commercial developments (Austin Business Journal)
A proposed fee that would require commercial developers to pay to support the maintenance and creation of parkland continues to slowly progress through Austin City Hall.
The change would expand Title 25-1 of the city code to require parkland dedication for commercial developments, more specifically office, retail, industrial and hotel projects. Supporters of the fee say that's needed to provide enough open, natural spaces in a rapidly changing city.
But such a fee would also add another layer to the already costly endeavor of commercial development in Austin, which has some members of the development community up in arms.
Following nearly five hours of deliberations Aug. 9, the Austin Planning Commission approved an amended version of the?proposed fee structure?in an 8-2 vote, with commissioners?Greg Anderson?and?Jeffrey Thompson?opposed. The item is now scheduled to be reviewed by Austin City Council on Aug. 17.
"We need to do this now because we are in a period of rapid growth," said commissioner?Grayson Cox, a project manger with civil engineering firm KSA. "Our parks core has been wavering."…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Huston-Tillotson University names Melva Williams as new president, CEO (Austin American-Statesman)
The Huston-Tillotson University Board of Trustees named Melva Williams as the school’s seventh president and CEO.?
Williams previously served as the vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at Southern University in Shreveport, La. That school is also a historically Black university. She was selected for the Huston-Tillotson position Thursday after a national search.
She will begin the job of leading Austin’s oldest university on Monday following the retirement of Colette Pierce Burnette, the school’s previous president, on June 30.
“Dr. Williams’ reputation as a visionary leader, utilizing creative approaches to advancing higher education through layers of innovative improvements, will position Huston-Tillotson University for the economic and technological advances shaping the Central Texas market,” Carol McDonald, chair of the Huston-Tillotson board, said in a media release…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
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[TEXAS]
Poll shows Greg Abbott maintains lead over Beto O'Rourke in race for Texas governor (Houston Chronicle)
A new poll shows Gov. Greg Abbott maintains his lead over Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke in this fall's race for Texas governor.?
The?poll, conducted in the first week of August by the University of Texas-Tyler and Dallas Morning News, says Abbot is leading O'Rourke by 7 percentage points, with a margin of error of 2.6 percent. Their last poll, conducted in May, had Abbott leading by the same amount.
Three polls in July?showed O'Rourke within 6 points of Abbott,?leading political analysts to believe that this fall's race could be more competitive than previous elections. Texas has not had a Democratic governor since Ann Richards in the early 1990s.?
“We’re right on track with where we want to be,” said Dave Carney, Abbott’s chief political strategist, last month.?
O'Rourke, for his part, has projected confidence as he continues his 49-day tour of the state. The former congressman and El Paso City Council member?drew over 2,500 people to a rally north of Dallas in conservative Collin County, according to the Dallas Morning News.?
"We are going to win this election," O'Rourke told his supporters in Frisco on Saturday, pointing to abortion rights, gun control and healthcare as issues that were going to turn voters out to his cause…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton neck-and-neck with Democratic challenger in new poll (Dallas Morning News)
Attorney General Ken Paxton and his Democratic challenger, Rochelle Garza, are neck and neck in a new poll, a sign the embattled incumbent is vulnerable in November. Paxton leads Garza 34%-32% among registered voters — the tightest margin of any statewide contest, according to a Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll released Sunday. Eight percent supported Libertarian candidate Mark Ash, 7% opted for “someone else” and 18% are not sure. The results suggest the race could be Democrats’ best shot at winning a statewide office after a nearly three-decade lockout. The poll, conducted August 1-7, surveyed 1,384 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Paxton, a Republican and close ally of former President Donald Trump, is seeking a third term under a cloud of legal troubles. Garza, a civil rights attorney from South Texas, is a political newcomer unknown to many voters.
Both have strong support within their own parties, the poll found. But Garza has a 5-point lead among independents, who also make up the biggest chunk of undecided voters and could swing the election. Half of independent voters said they disapprove of Paxton’s job performance, the poll found, up from 41% in May. A falling number (18%) think Paxton has the integrity needed to serve in the office he’s held since 2015. Paxton has been under indictment for securities fraud for almost his entire tenure, but a trial has been delayed by wrangling over where to hold one, how much to pay prosecutors and non-legal reasons, like Hurricane Harvey and the pandemic. In late 2020, the FBI began investigating Paxton after former aides accused him of illegally helping a campaign donor. No federal charges have been filed. Paxton denies wrongdoing. The legal problems, however, fueled attacks by Republicans and Democrats that may be resonating with voters on the fence…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Why local governments trail private employers in hiring (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. employers have added jobs?at a historically robust pace since emerging from the pandemic recession, with a notable exception: state and local governments.
The nation lost about 22 million jobs in March and April 2020, or 14% of the total, when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit the U.S. economy. Total payrolls started growing in May of that year, and?by July of this year?the overall labor market had more jobs than in February 2020, according to the Labor Department.
Meanwhile, state and local public employers—such as schools, hospitals, libraries and law enforcement agencies—lost about 1.5 million jobs?in March through June 2020, or about 7.4% of the total. These payrolls started rising in July that year, and by last month they had 605,000 fewer filled jobs on their payrolls, or 3% less, than in February 2020.
Some of the jobs were eliminated by the public agencies, but much of the deficit reflects their difficulty filling open positions in?a hot job market, say economists and recruiters. State and local governments have posted slower wage growth and often have less nimble hiring processes than private employers.
“In a severe labor market crunch, the least flexible employer in the room is the one who gets screwed and that’s the public-sector employer for a number of reasons,” said Marianne Wanamaker, an economist at the University of Tennessee. She added that pay increases for government employees often require legislation and need to be negotiated with labor unions…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
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